


Doubling Down

by tinylilremus



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, First Kiss, Fluff, Getting Together, House Party, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 18:50:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21360988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinylilremus/pseuds/tinylilremus
Summary: The girl hitting on Richie at the party can't seem to take a hint, so he lies and tells her that he's gay to get her off his back. When she doesn't believe him, Richie grabs the nearest guy to prove it to her. That guy just so happens to be Eddie Kaspbrak.And maybe the lie isn't such a lie after all.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 7
Kudos: 390





	Doubling Down

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the following [prompt by chenetic](https://chenetic.tumblr.com/post/188889403733/inspired-by-my-past-prompt-richie-has-a) on tumblr:
> 
> _'Inspired by my past prompt, Richie has a persistent girl trying to get in his pants so Richie shouts out “I’m gay. I’m very very gay,” and the girl doesn’t believe him so he grab the next boy (Eddie) and quickly whispers, “just go with it okay,” before he plants a big kiss on him and the girl walks away, defeated, and Richie actually really likes the kiss and says “well okay maybe I am gay ‘cuz wow.”'_

It wasn’t that he disliked Lucy Smith. She was his lab partner and one of the people he smoked with at lunch most days. She told hilarious stories about her family, with voices and dramatic pauses and everything. She was great. She was, however, very drunk that night and suddenly very sure that she wanted Richie, while Richie was very sure that he didn’t feel the same way. Every attempt he had made to rebuff her advances so far had only made her more determined. It was just his luck to be stuck in a corner with someone who was a stubborn drunk.

“C’mon, Richie, we hang out so much. You flirt with me all the time.” Her words slurred unpleasantly and though Richie was the designated driver for the Loser’s Club and, as such, hadn’t had a drink all night, he felt as ill as he would have if he’d downed every drink handed to him.

“That’s just banter,” he replied, taking a small step closer to the sliding door that led to the pool outside. “Just banter between friends. That’s all we are okay? Friends. Buddies. Chums. Amigos.”

“I don’t see it that way,” said Lucy, taking a step closer and oh god how was Richie going to get out of this without causing a scene?

“It doesn’t really matter what way you see it,” he said, taking another step closer to the door. “Listen, Luce, you’re lovely and I’m sure some poor dude is standing on the sidelines hoping and praying that someone as badass as you would even talk to them, but I’m not that guy.”

“Why not?” She was pouting now, and rather than making him feel sympathetic, it made Richie take yet another step towards the door.

“Because I’m gay.”

_GAY?_ yelled his inner voice. _Holy shit, Rich, way to panic and pick an excuse that’s only going to make everything so much worse._

“You’re not gay,” Lucy scoffed.

The smug way she said it only served to make Richie double down on his bullshit.

“I’m gay, Lucy! Gay gay gay! A big home of sexual! I don’t know what else you want from me.”

Lucy was still looking at him with her slightly unfocused eyes narrowed and Richie knew if he was going to get her off his back, he was going to have to prove it.

_I’m going to have to kiss the next dude who walks through the door,_ he told himself, hoping that whoever his poor victim ended up being would be willing to help him out.

Richie’s heart leapt when it turned out to be Eddie. Surely Eddie would play along? He grabbed his arm, and though he was still focused on Lucy, he could feel Eddie’s questioning stare.

“So you see, Lucy, I couldn’t possibly go upstairs with you because I’m only into guys, like my lovely Eddie here.”

He turned to look at Eddie now and was met with wide eyes.

“Please just go with me on this,” Richie muttered, sliding his hands up Eddie’s arms to rest on his biceps. The small, almost imperceptible nod he received in return was all the confirmation Richie needed. He closed the small distance between them and without thinking too much about what he was doing, he kissed Eddie Kaspbrak.

And _holy shit_.

This wasn’t supposed to be anything. This was supposed to be a dumb stunt to get Lucy Smith to stop pestering him, but none of his stupid stunts had ever felt like this. Eddie wasn’t wearing a shirt and his skin was still cool and damp from the pool, his lips tasted like chlorine and whatever Richie’s heart was doing at those two realisations was not normal.

Richie was just starting to think that the kiss had gone on long enough for him to prove his point and was about to pull back, but then Eddie parted his lips and there was no way that Richie could resist the desire to deepen the kiss – not when it felt so fucking good.

“Okay, Jesus, I fucking get it, Tozier,” huffed Lucy, clumsily storming off, and it was only when Richie was sure that she was out of the room that Richie pulled away from Eddie.

“Oh god, Eds, I’m so sorry,” said Richie, his stomach churning unpleasantly again. “I didn’t know how else to get her to leave me alone. I didn’t mean to get so weird with it. I just… thank you. I’m sorry.”

Richie ran out the door for the swing-set in the farthest corner of the enormous backyard. He didn’t want to see Eddie’s face. He didn’t want to see how confused he probably looked. More than anything, he didn’t want to see how, in less than two minutes, he’d just destroyed their thirteen years of friendship, and he definitely didn’t want to see how Eddie looked at him now that he thought Richie was gay.

God, _was_ he gay? He’d kissed a few girls before and had enjoyed it enough, but this… this was something else. He’d never felt anything like it. This was fireworks and fanfare and the rest of the room melting away like it did in those cheesy old movies. This was _right_, and it was unfortunate that he had figured that out at the same time he had ruined his relationship with one of his best friends.

He thought back on all of his other stray thoughts over the years – the quick peeks at Bill’s abs while they were changing for gym class, how nice he thought Mike’s eyes were when they caught the sun, how pretty Stan’s cupid’s bow was.

And Eddie. Eddie’s enormous Disney princess eyes and Disney prince hair. His cute little dimples when he smiled and the pink of his cheeks when he blushed.

Fuck. It had been there the whole time, right there waiting for Richie to figure it out and this was how it had happened. He had never been more furious with himself.

“God, Richie, you’re such a fuck-up,” he mumbled to himself, leaning his head on the chain of the swing and swaying morosely.

“You’re not a fuck-up,” said a voice from right in front of him and Richie nearly fell backwards off of the small wooden plank. He relaxed when he realised that it was Eddie, but barely. His heart still hammered violently against his ribcage.

Eddie was still shirtless and damp and Richie tried very hard not to look at the droplets of water dripping from his hair onto his naked chest. It wasn’t helping anything.

“Can I sit?” He gestured to the open swing and Richie nodded, hoping Eddie wouldn’t shit on him too much for what had just happened.

There were a few more moments of silent awkward swaying between them before Eddie spoke again.

“Rich, just for my sanity… are you actually gay?”

Richie looked over at him, and though he was terrified of what might happen if he spoke to Eddie about this, there was no hint of judgement on Eddie’s face. He looked like he just genuinely wanted to know.

“I… I don’t actually know,” Richie answered honestly. “I’ve never thought about it.”

“Well, did you enjoy the kiss?”

Eddie was biting his lower lip and it was weirdly similar to the anxious expression he wore when he was trying to ask his mom if it would be okay for him to sleepover at one of his friends’ houses – somewhere between hope and terror.

“I did,” said Richie, taking a deep breath and sighing it out. “It was pretty fucking amazing.”

“I thought so too,” said Eddie. “But then, I suppose it would be after being in love with someone for so long.”

This time, Richie did fall off the swing.

“Shit, Rich, are you okay?” asked Eddie, immediately hopping off of his swing to check on him.

Richie wasn’t about to be distracted by anything, not even Eddie’s concern.

“You mean me?” he asked. “You’re in love with me?”

“Yeah,” said Eddie. “Yeah, I am.”

“Oh my god, oh my god,” said Richie, sitting up and running his fingers through his hair. He didn’t know what to do with all of this new information. “For how long?”

“Since middle school.” It was difficult to tell in the dim light, but he was fairly certain that Eddie was blushing crimson.

“And you never said anything?” asked Richie.

“I thought you were straight. I thought I was just a stupid little gay boy who was hung up on his completely heterosexual friend. There’s no way I could have even fucking…”

Eddie sat down on the grass.

“I didn’t think that kiss would ever happen and if it ever did, I didn’t think that _you _would be the one to initiate it.”

“Well,” said Richie, now also biting his bottom lip, “would you like to initiate one?”

Eddie just blinked at him.

“I’m serious, Eds. I want you to kiss me. I think I’ve… I think that kiss was what made me realise that I think about you all the time. I think about your perfect hair and soft smile and the way you’re the only one who snort-laughs at my jokes. I think I’ve liked you for a long time, but I’ve only just figured out that that’s what it is. And it’s not like –“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence, because, at that moment, Eddie’s lips crashed into his. This time, Richie didn’t hesitate at all. His fingers slid up to tangle in Eddie’s damp curls and he allowed himself to fully enjoy the way Eddie smiled slightly against his mouth.

Richie still didn’t know if he was gay, and it would be a while before he settled on a label that felt right for him, but for now, in the arms of the boy he had unknowingly wanted for the longest time, it hardly mattered.


End file.
